Ashton Marra Published

West Virginia on Track to Exceed Early Vote Records

A young voter exits a polling place.

The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office is preparing for any potential voting issues that may arise on Election Day while tallying one of the highest early voting turnouts on record.

The Secretary of State’s Office says more than 140,000 people have cast ballots early this year. The early voting period began on October 26 and runs through Saturday, November 5. 

State voting officials said Thursday that number is on track to exceed early voting records. 

Of those ballots cast 46 percent were registered Democrats and 36 percent were registered Republicans, but the votes won’t be tallied until the polls close on election night.

Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said Thursday while they can’t predict what kind of problems voters or poll workers may encounter on Election Day, her office is prepared for one in particular—electioneering at polling sites.

“A concern that we had in the primary election were people trying to get within that three hundred foot mark,” Tennant said. 

Tennant said when people enter that boundary on Election Day to campaign for a candidate, or are even right on the line, it causes voters to question whether they are obeying rules. When those issues are then reported to poll workers, they have to leave the precincts to check on the problems, slowing down the voting process.